Los Angeles, California – Actor Michael J. Fox was honored on Monday night for his advocacy against Parkinson’s disease – and his speech earned standing ovations and tears from the audience.
When the 65-year-old Back to the Future actor rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair, the prominent audience members in the hall rose to their feet and applauded for minutes afterward.
Many of them, including 84-year-old star Harrison Ford, fought back tears.
“I have to sit, so you enjoy it,” Michael J. Fox joked at the start of his acceptance speech for the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, then candidly spoke about his life with the neurological disease Parkinson’s.
Hayden Panettiere’s neighbors report harrowing new details about her death
When the actor received the diagnosis in the early ’90s at just 29 years old, he initially kept it to himself.
“I worried that it would affect my work and my relationship with audiences,” he said. “Would they laugh if they knew that I was sick?”
Fortunately, things turned out completely differently. When Fox went public with his diagnosis in 1998, he was “stunned by the support” he got from his peers as well as the wider public.
He thanked not only his fans but also his wife Tracy Pollan and their four children, who received his heartfelt appreciation “for their sacrifices, for their patience, and for their love.”
In 2000, Fox founded the Parkinson’s foundation that bears his name, the world’s largest private organization dedicated to researching and curing the disease.
The actor is now being honored for his decades‑long commitment.
